Ahlibank Holds Annual Ordinary and Extraordinary General Meeting
26 February 2020
February 26th 2020 – Doha, Qatar. Ahlibank held its Annual Ordinary and Extraordinary General Meetings on Wednesday, 26th February, chaired by Sheikh Faisal Bin AbdulAziz Bin Jassem Al-Thani, Chairman & Managing Director with attendance from the Bank’s shareholders.
Ahlibank’s board reported a net profit of QAR 675.2 million for the year ended 2019 compared to QAR 665.6 million for the year 2018
The Annual Ordinary General Meeting approved the Board’s recommendation for distribution of dividends for the year ended 31 December 2019 to the registered shareholders as at the date of the AGM. These are in the form of cash dividend of 15% (QR 0.15 per share) and a bonus share of 5% (One new share for every 20 shares). The dividend proposal intends to maximise shareholders’ wealth and meet the requirements of the Bank’s internal capital, liquidity and balance sheet growth projections.
The Annual Extraordinary General Meeting also approved the increase of the Bank’s capital by 5% amounting to 115,698,239 shares i.e. the number of shares approved as dividend. With this increase the Bank’s capital becomes 2,429,663,019 shares.
Sheikh Faisal Bin AbdulAziz Bin Jassem Al-Thani, Chairman & Managing Director, commented on Ahlibank’s financial performance: “Ahlibank delivered a solid and steady financial performance for the year ended 31 December 2019. Loans and Advances growing by 14.8% over December 2018 to QR 31,591 million. The Bank’s investment Securities grew by 27.1% over December 2018 to QR 7,521 million and the Total Capital Adequacy Ratio as of December 2019 stood at a healthy 18%, reflecting the strong capital position of the Bank.
Sheikh Faisal Bin AbdulAziz Bin Jassem Al-Thani further stated: “The Bank has successfully met one of its Key Strategic Objectives of improving Stable Funding by completing the third bond issuance for US$ 500 Million under its US$ 1.5 Billion EMTN Programme in the International Debt Capital markets. As a further testimony to our financial performance and asset quality, Ahlibank continues to enjoy higher Credit Ratings; A2/P1 from Moodys. Fitch Ratings has also affirmed the Bank’s Long Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A'. We will continue to live by our brand values to be at the heart of the community and our promise to provide the most personal banking experience in Qatar.”
| The Bank’s financial performance highlights for 2019 include: |
| The Bank’s Balance Sheet grew by 8.7% over December 2018 to QR 43,915 million. |
| The Bank’s Stable Funding consisting of Medium Term Loans and Debt Notes as a % of Total Liabilities improved to 18.8% in December 2019 compared with 17.6% in December 2018 as the Bank focused on improving the maturity profile of liabilities. |
| The Bank’s Loans and advances grew by 14.8% over December 2018 to QR 31,591 million. |
| The Bank’s Investment book grew by 27.1% over December 2018 to QR 7,521 million. |
| The Bank’s Net Profits increased by 1.5% to QR 675 million in Dec 2019. |
| Cost to Income Ratio for 2019 improved to 27.3% from 28.1% in 2018 reflecting efficient management of the Bank’s operations. |
| The Return on Average Assets (ROAA) and Return on Average Equity (ROAE) stood steady at 1.7% and 11.9% respectively, despite an increase in balance sheet size and equity base. |
| Total Capital Adequacy Ratio as of December 2019 stood at a healthy 18.01%, reflecting strong capital position of the bank. |